South Africa has received approximately -million in additional United States government assistance to combat the HIV/Aids pandemic. This new injection of funding completes South Africa’s -million allocation for 2004 under the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief.
Scientists in China have found away to curb smallscale outbreaks of the infamous red tide that threatens South Africa’s coastline, according to the Science and Development Network. The so-called red tides — coastal outbreaks of toxic algae — are on the increase in China.
The situation in Diepsloot remained tense after violence in the area on Monday, the police and members of the South African Civic Association (Sanco) said on Tuesday. "The situation is very bad for now. What I see is people running through the streets," said Nkosana Dube, the spokesperson for Sanco in Diepsloot.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=118259">Rubber bullets fly in Diepsloot</a>
Botswana launched a stinging attack on Tuesday on the human rights group supporting San Bushmen in a land claim in the desert Southern African country, calling it a "fund-raising gimmick". Judges continued inspections in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve,where the Bushmen lived before they were evicted in 1997.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=118200">Bushmen land claim ‘nonsense'</a>
Judges at Slobodan Milosevic’s war crimes trial on Monday ordered a ”radical review” of the hearing after the defendant’s poor health forced a fresh postponement of a case that has already dragged on for more than two years. So far he has defended himself against charges of genocide.
South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki and his Nigerian counterpart Olusegun Obasanjo were among the first leaders to arrive at the conference centre where the third ordinary session of the assembly of the African Union is taking place. A brass band from the Ethiopian police force and a traditional Ethiopian band welcomed delegates on a wet and rainy Tuesday morning.
While the number of legally exported diamonds from Sierra Leone had increased, reports indicate 40% of diamonds leaving the country were smuggled out. Blood diamonds funded fighting in Sierra Leone in the aftermath of the civil war which ended two years ago. The government eventually clamped down on the illegal trade through the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme.
Shaolin temple, the home of kung fu, has extended its self-defence strategy from martial arts to trademark protection. Monks at the 1 500-year-old Buddhist temple in Henan province plan to register the Shaolin name in more than 80 countries to prevent what they claim is its improper use to promote cigarettes, beer, lingerie and bogus schools.
Burkina Faso warned on Monday it would shoot down planes violating its airspace, as neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire denied veiled charges that its planes had committed any violations. ”We want the region to be peaceful and if the planes that overfly our territory, without authorisation, and which haven’t been announced continue, we will shoot them down,” said Burkinabe Foreign Minister Youssouf Ouedraogo.
The integrity of the Kenyan government of President Mwai Kibaki, elected 18 months ago on an anti-corruption platform, is facing its first real test with investigations being launched into two multimillion-dollar contracts. The investigations by the police anti-corruption unit and a watchdog committee of MPs centre on plans to buy a sophisticated -million passport equipment system from France.